On this day in 1864 President Lincoln signed a bill drafted by both houses of the 38th Congress of the United States officially creating the Yosemite Grant. While Yellowstone ultimately became the first National Park, this was the first instance of park land being set aside for preservation and public use by the federal government. The grant was the result of citizens like Galen Clark and Senator John Conness advocating heavily for protection of the area. John Muir later led a successful movement to establish a larger national park encompassing not just the Yosemite Valley, but surrounding mountains and forests as well.
Yosemite presented a series of firsts for the national park system we enjoy today; first to have land set aside, paving the way for other parks like Yellowstone to carve out protected areas for future generations to enjoy; and first to build on the national park idea, and put in place a system for the future United States National Park Service.
Today marks the 149th year since the Yosemite Grant was signed. 2014 promises to be a banner year at Yosemite, as the park celebrates the 150th anniversary of the Yosemite Grant. You can find out more about the events celebrating the 150th anniversary HERE.
With their usual regard for conservation and the environment, the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power (DWP)continues to display their professional ineptitude and scandalous behavior. All efforts to protect and restore Mono Lake have been undermined by the DWP since they made a unilateral power-grab of lake monitoring operations and started diverting $10,000,000 in water per year. Everything the DWP is doing is directly in violation of the rules set in 1998 by the State Water Board.
Al Golub Joins Faculty of Professional Photographers at YExplore and Will Lead Yosemite Photography Classes for Park Visitors
If you are interested in land management in California, I encourage you to visit (and join!) 
California’s largest-ever dam removal is set to begin in July. Officials are calling this the state’s largest dam removal project ever. Dismantling the 106-foot-tall concrete dam and reroute half a mile of the river is schedules to take three years.